U.S. Pat. No. 8,069,975 discloses a conveyor belt rip detection system with rip detection inserts and is incorporated herein by reference. The rip detection inserts can be easily integrated into the conveyor belt at low cost. The rip detection inserts do not negatively affect the durability of the conveyor belt and can be easily replaced if belt damage occurs. The rip detection system provides a reliable early image of belt damage which can facilitate a quick repair before more extensive belt damage occurs. The conveyor belt disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,069,975 includes an elastomeric body with a load carrying surface, a reinforcement ply disposed in the elastomeric body and a multiplicity of rip detection inserts. The rip detection inserts are spaced along the longitudinal length of the conveyor belt and include a plurality of rip detection wires. The rip detection wires are made of a magnetically permeable material and are aligned at a bias angle of 15° to 75° with respect to a perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the belt. The patent further discloses a method for detecting damage to a conveyor belt as the conveyor belt advances through a conveyor system. The rip detection wires are spaced incrementally across the width of the belt.
The disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 8,069,975 enables the operators of a conveyor belt to not only determine where along the length of the conveyor belt to look for rip damage but also to locate the damage relative to the edge of the belt. However, it does not enable the continued monitoring of the portions of the rip detection insert that are not damaged.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,256,607 discloses a monitoring system for a moving conveyor belt. The conveyor belt has a plurality of embedded reinforcing cords and identification tags. A tag reader detects and identifies the identification tags passing by the tag reader while a belt monitor scans the cords to detect a plurality of magnetic reference points and a damage event of at least one cord. A control unit in communication with the belt monitor and the tag reader analyzes the belt monitor to identify the plurality of magnetic reference points and the damage event. The control unit also acquires a belt location on the moving conveyor belt from a belt map based on the detected and identified identification tag and a magnetic reference point from the plurality of magnetic reference points. When a damage event is identified, the location of the damage event is determined by the control unit based on the acquired belt location.